Legal Studies Classroom

Monday, May 11, 2015

It's the end of the semester. Usually I post some of the latest "Bad Lawyer Ads" for the duration. This year, the post is just for fun from the fictional Saul Goodman. Have a great summer. See you in the Fall.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Since the Supreme Court reversed the lower court ruling in Snyder v. Westboro Baptist Church, I have been looking for a new example of a fact pattern meeting the "extreme and outrageous conduct" requirement for an Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress claim. I think there is a new candidate. A Florida man who underwent a lower leg amputation at the hospital was surprised a month later when homicide detectives knocked on his door to ask if there had been any foul play. It seems that his leg turned up in a landfill. The police were able to trace it to the victim because it still had the hospital identification tags attached. Apparently the hospital did not incinerate the leg as was called for by sound medical practice. The victim has filed a suit for IIED claiming, consistent with the language of the Restatement of Torts, conduct that was,"outrageous and beyond the bounds of human decency as to be
regarded as odious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community."

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

In 2012 a deadly meningitis outbreak was traced back to a drug compounding firm in Framingham Massachusetts called the "New England Compounding Center." When indictments were handed down in 2014, in addition to the second degree murder charges were charges for fraud against government. Apparently the company claimed to have filled prescriptions for fictitious patients and charged the federal government. The investigation unearthed an e-mail from the company's owner cautioning his employees that, "All names must resemble 'real' names...no obviously false
names! (Mickey Mouse.)"

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

A millionaire in Finland was fined about $58,000 for driving 14 MPH over the speed limit. Finnish law imposes fines based on income to make sure that there is equality of deterrent effect across income levels. It's a scheme not without merit. Although, if you can claim you were speeding for business purposes, you might be able to earn a tax deduction.

Corporate decision-making can be siloed and fractured, but how many drunken frat boys must there be at this company to approve such an exquisitely callous and inappropriate public presentation of a product? When students complain to me that businesses worry about getting sued my response is, "They are supposed to worry about getting sued." Fear of being sued is what causes them to be more careful about safety and thoughtful about how their practices can negatively impact the rest of society.

At least once the online comments started to flow, the company responded appropriately instead of trying to stubbornly defend the indefensible. But what kind of "College Humor"-fueled, insular and thoughtless culture must permeate the social media marketing office at Bud that they were unable to comprehend the implications of adopting this slogan? Even if they were unable to recognize their callous disregard for the victims of sexual assault, they should have been able to recognize the obvious liability exposure. I would hope that any 5th or 6th semester Legal Environment student would have caught that one.

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